Psychology of a Hero: Amelia Mignonette Thermopolis Renaldi (Mia) from THE PRINCESS DIARIES

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I love that they softened the Grandma from the original books. In the novels, Grandmere was a chain smoking, cranky old lady who was sharp with Mia. Julie Andrews is so charming and likable, and hard to dislike, so thankfully they made Clarisse more lovable.

Focusing on Fat Louis was Not a mistake, he was a pivotal character, so important to the plot, Gary understood this

I love the story where Meg Cabot is asked if they can kill off Mia's father for the movie adaptation since they have a big actress for the grandmother's role. Once she heard it was Julie Andrews, she was "OMG, kill the dad."

Third reason to watch the second film: Julie Andrews sings for the first time in like 20 years. Apparently, they wrote the song especially for her so it would be in her range, and she did it in one take, because she's the best.

Facts: Nobody can interrupt Julie Andrews. And, she is the Queen in real-time.

On the subject of that basketball scene... I think there IS some visual importance to seeing that Lilly is sinking every shot. You'll notice that she is speaking her mind honestly, and that after a difficult process, she has finally come to a realization about how she feels about her friend's status as princess. So, just like her words, her basketball shots land "true." Then you'll notice that the girls pass the ball between them a few times in this conversation, and this reflects the direction the conversation is going. Lilly makes a shot (mostly in tandem with when she makes a statement), and then Mia catches the rebound and bounce-passes the ball back. Returning the ball not only shows she is still trying to be friendly to her estranged friend, it is also a visual representation of taking the statement and giving gentle feedback. Essentially, it means, "I'm still listening; keep talking." Then when the girls get angry at each other, they chest pass instead of bounce-pass, which visually looks more like the aggression they are feeling. Last of all, you'll notice that the one time Mia takes a shot, she misses. Unlike Lilly, who is being sincere, speaking her mind, and knows how she feels, Mia is unfocused, and ultimately --- as she later realizes --- her decision to abdicate her title is wrong. Her words and her shots are not "landing true." So, yeah. Maybe it so happens the camera placements are wonky in this movie, but at least the visual storytelling is effective. P.S. I'm no filmmaker, but I am paying attention to the camera cuts in that basketball scene. You'll notice there are only two times you see Lilly's whole shot, from follow-through to sinking the basket. You'll also notice that there are camera cuts right before one of these shots is made. So, it's entirely possible they DID do a lot of takes to make sure she was sinking all of these baskets. (I think she still has some skill, though, even if her form is kind of unusual.)

The inclusion of Fat Louis and his perspective is directorial genius. This is a movie about a royal family and succession and ruling and CATS ARE GODS. Look at this scene. The only living creature above a reigning queen and her successor is a cat. And not just a cat. The cat of a princess. It’s perfect.

Five words to describe Julie Andrews: Practically perfect in every way

Another point in the second movie’s favor, it gave us Queen Clarisse and Joe getting married. Hector Elizondo as Joe (Joey? No. Joe.) was another great character, I actually loved how quickly he went from being a little irritated at having to be Mia‘s chauffeur/babysitter, to genuinely caring about her and protecting her in a fatherly way. In fact, that’s another point for the second movie. “If you hurt my girl, you will answer directly to me, and whatever crimes I commit against you, remember, I have diplomatic immunity in 46 countries, including Puerto Rico.”

While I loved this movie a lot as a kid, and I'm still fond of it, looking back, I think it contributed to my unhealthy relationship with my hair. I resonated a LOT with characters like her who had my big poofy curly hair. And to see her perceived as pretty only AFTER she straightened it both hurt and made me feel like I had to straighten my hair to be seen as normal and pretty. Nowadays I love and am happy with my hair, but I wish there wasn't such a trope to do that stereotypical 'makeover' scene. Big hair is beautiful. Curly hair is beautiful. Whatever your natural hair is is beautiful.

I think the cuts to the cat are also silly but important. Because the cat is the ultimate reason that Mia finds the letter from her father and is inspired to take the last step of self-actualization. You could see the cat as a spiritual force or familiar to Mia because cats are symbolically so finicky. Or even as a spirit of her father. Edit: The wide shots from the cat’s pov also alleviates tense from the audience and gives a sense that the world is bigger than Mia and her own perspective. That there is life beyond being a princess or a normal girl. She has the freedom of a normal girl to think about her future. It gives the “bigger picture”, if you will. Objectively, if the film were filmed without the cat, then the story might feel railroaded.

I will always love Mia's speech at the end when she accepts her birthright. It was the definition of using her power and privilege to amplify the voices of others, and turn words into actions.

Lily is the kind of friend you have when you are a weirdo and have been your whole life. If you're lucky, you find other weirdos and hold on for dear life. The thing about weirdos is that they don't always have social niceties. They're often too loud or too emotional. Lily strikes me as very relatable. Lily loves Mia, but doesn't always know how to express or share that affection and care, so it all comes out sideways. Lily is also more used to being the more outgoing friend, dealing with the most attention. It's really hard when a friendship dynamic shifts like that. Lily is the kind of girl I would have been friends with and, yeah, she wouldn't have stewarded that friendship super well in high school, but maybe it would have really matured in adulthood. So. Maybe don't bash the realistic portrayal of a weird teenage girl?

My dad still quotes this movie all the time. I remember when Joe says : [speaking to Mia] “Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.” My dad paused the movie and asked me if I knew what Joe meant. To hammer it home my dad stated, “don’t let anyone or anything change who you really are.” Growing up, going to college and getting married, my dad alway checked and said “you’re still you, I’m so proud of you.” 😂❤ this movie helped build my confidence and be loyal to who I am. My dad uses a lot of movies in the way he communicates and so we have many life lessons from some good movies. Love this channel! It’s given us even more to talk about!❤

I met Julie Andrews when I was younger at a book signing for her, and she called my sister and I princesses. She's larger than life and deserves to be on this massive pedestal, but she was so down to earth and /so/ kind. I have so much respect for her

I haven’t watched this episode yet but Y’ALL!! I just watched Princess Diaries today and I AM NOT JOKING when I say that I thought to myself “what would Cinema Therapy say about this movie? Naaaah they’ll never do it.” I am weeping. Thank you for this. I needed it. My mental health needed it. Please don’t ever stop doing what you’re doing. I promise you are always someone’s light in the dark days. Today you were mine and I’ve never clicked so fast on a video.

I don't know why, but Alan ripping on Garry Marshall's camera work is the thing I needed to laugh at during this unemployed spell/season. That and her dad's letter about being scared about applying for jobs I feel way too unqualified for but still going for it is the rallying cry I needed today. Thank you, Jonathan and Alan.

Reading some of the comments and I have to say, I’ll always defend Lilly! People forget she’s just a teen girl. Lilly has her own issues and being aware of that is great of her. She handled the situation badly, but she’s having to see her best friend pull away from her, keep secrets, and completely change her appearance. She’s just scared that she might be losing her best friend! Give her a break! When push came to shove, she supported Mia wholeheartedly and even helped her see how important of an opportunity she had. She kept her secret and even accepted Mia’s apology for ditching her without telling her for a sleazy guy. Lilly’s a good friend, I think people just don’t like her personality. Someone called her self absorbed but like… who isn’t at that age?

I have had very long discussions about Lilly in mostly the first movie. She's not a bad friend she is literally 15/16 years old. We get from a line earlier on that she has a strained relationship with her dad and so she doesn't get why Mia is still upset about the death of a father who was never around. Then when Mia starts ditching her all the time for princess lessons and suddenly changes her whole appearance, she's a teenage girl seeing her best friend change everything about who she, who they have always been. "You're turning into one of them." Teenagers' brains are still developing, so they don't make the best choices. When you watch the sequel, Lilly has had time to grow and change as a person and she's a much better, more supportive friend to Mia. I think another thing for Lilly in the first movie is that I'm sure she knows her best friend has a crush on her brother, and that can make any friendship dynamic weird. But ultimately her outbursts are totally realistic when you look at them through the lens of a 15 year old girl who is seeing her best friend change right before her eyes with no explanation. So many kids especially girls lose their friends in high school, and Lilly is seeing Mia morph into the same girls that have been bullying them for years. And she apologizes in the basketball scene and owns up to her mistakes just like Mia does. I hate how much hate Lilly gets for her reactions.